East Norriton's Sweeney earns Inter-Ac Athletic Directors Award

For the past four years, Fran Sweeney has enjoyed success at Germantown Academy in the field of athletics. And not just with one sport, but the senior has been an absolute star with the track and field, basketball and soccer teams.

If that wasn’t enough, the high honors student also played lacrosse in her freshman year.

And after winning countless awards, helping some of her teams to league titles and being given the opportunity to play basketball at Emory University in Atlanta, Sweeney is now being given quite possibly her best achievement to date.

On Wednesday night, at a special celebration, the 18-year-old East Norriton resident was given the Girls’ Inter-Ac League Athletic Directors Award, an award which is given by the league in honor of past athletic directors and presented to a senior girl who has been a multi-sport varsity athlete who has exemplified a number of characteristics, including being dedicated to her team and school, while also having sportsmanship and leadership.

“Just being at this tonight, with those who have helped me as an athlete and being with all the coaches and teachers and everyone who helped me throughout the way, is special,” Sweeney said. “It definitely means that all my hard work has paid off and that what I did at GA really meant something. It meant something to me.”

Sweeney was a three-sport athlete during each of her four years at GA. She was a consistent honor student while taking on a heavy load of advanced placement courses, including four in her senior year alone. And if she didn’t dedicate enough time to athletics and academics, she was also actively involved in a number of other school activities.

She was the recipient of the Markward Award, which is given for “sportsmanship and play on the court,” while also winning awards in each of her first two years at GA, including the Osbourn Memorial Medal during her sophomore year and the Leopold Memorial Prize during her freshman year.

Her finest achievement — at least before Wednesday night — was probably when she was given the McNeil Patriot Scholar Award, which is the highest award given out at GA and was awarded at the end of Sweeney’s junior year for character and academy achievement.

“Fran is an outstanding example of a complete student-athlete,” said GA coach Peter Jennings, who has been Sweeney’s track and field coach for the last four years. “She has challenged herself with difficult courses and she has excelled in them. She has found success in three different sports and on the track, she took an interest in hurdling during her sophomore year and devoted herself fully to learning, practicing and perfecting this technical event.”

That is the type of athlete that Sweeney has been since she began playing basketball 12 years ago. And it was that type of dedication which has earned her such a prestigious award.

“Beyond her accomplishments, Fran is a great teammate and a pleasure to coach,” Jennings said. “Her positive approach to all of her pursuits and the joy she takes out of facing new challenges makes her a perfect choice for this award.”

While Sweeney showed excellence both on the track and on the soccer field, and while she says she has never preferred one sport over another, she has been actively recruited by a number of basketball schools, including Emory, New York University, Washington and Lee, the University of Chicago and Haverford College, among others.

“I have no preference on any one sport, which is the great thing about high school because I didn’t have to focus on just one thing,” said Sweeney, who is unsure of what she will study in college, despite leaning toward a major in humanities or business. “I am looking forward to focusing on basketball now, though. That should be great in college.”

Emory is a top-20 academic school, where Sweeney will be a member of the women’s basketball team, a Division 3 school which finished this past season 13th overall in the country.

During her time with the Lady Patriots’ basketball team, Sweeney was a two-year starter and helped GA win three Inter-Ac titles, as well as two Independent Schools state championships. She was named as Second Team All-Inter-Ac player this past year and she led the entire team in all shooting percentage categories, while also being top-20 in three-pointers in all of Southeastern Pennsylvania as a junior.

Sweeney was selected as a team captain and was awarded her team’s defensive most valuable player award as a senior.

“Fran left her mark on GA basketball,” GA girls’ basketball coach Sheri Retif said. “As a junior, she hit the game-winning shot in a huge win against Episcopal Academy and no one will ever forget that. In the past, she has always been a three-point specialist, but this year, she was our best defensive player and she had a big year. She helped us to clinch a win down in a tournament in Atlanta with her defense.

“I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving for this award than Fran. She is a wonderful representative of GA athletics and I think it’s her sportsmanship and academics which really make her wonderful. She was outstanding in her other sports and it was an honor to coach her.”

On the soccer team, Sweeney was a four-year starter, playing outside midfield while scoring close to 20 goals in her career. She helped her team win the 2012 Inter-Ac title, while also being part of two second-place finishing teams.

On the track, she only lost one 100-meter hurdles race (finishing second) and has had four of six first-place finishes in the 300 meter hurdles in league meets this season. Sweeney also placed fourth at the Independent Schools tournament last year while competing against college-level track athletes in what is considered her third best sport.

When GA girls’ soccer coach Chris Nelson entered the program two years ago, he knew of Sweeney’s abilities on and off the field. And he said that during that time, she has surpassed what he expected.

“She has played every single minute since I’ve been here,” Nelson said. “She’s a tireless worker and she’s talented and she’s composed in big situations. She’s a great leader and she’s one of those kids that adults respect, kids respect and everyone respects. She’s the total package. I think she’s a great athlete and an even better person and I think this is sort of a great capping of her high school career. I can’t think of anyone more deserving.”

On top of being an honor student and on top of all of the athletic achievements and awards, Sweeney has also kept busy out of the classroom. At GA, she is an advisor for the GA Writing Center, where she helps fellow students to improve their writing. She has been doing so for a few hours a week since her sophomore year.

Sweeney is also a senior leader for the GA Tutor Program, in addition to being a House Prefect leader and a senior leader with the Community Service Organization.

When asked what her reaction was to finding out that she would be accepting the Girls’ Inter-Ac League Athletic Directors’ Award, Sweeney said she was surprised.

“I was just honored to be recognized with so many other great girls, but it was a surprise,” Sweeney said. “I remember people winning it from previous years and I never really thought it would be me, so I’m just very happy it was. My coaches helped me an immense amount along the way and I learned stuff in soccer that helped me with basketball and I learned stuff in basketball that helped me with track. It all kind of overlapped.”

Sweeney accepted her award on Wednesday night in front of coach Retif, one of her teachers and both of her parents. The award was given in honor of Barbara Longstreth.

“This is definitely one of my finest high school achievements,” Sweeney said.